Four Stages of Team Development
Self-managed work teams need considerable time to perform up to its true capabilities. What a group is capable of achieving depends in part on its stage of development. The team's effectiveness can be improved if its members are committed to reflection and on-going evaluation. However, the most important aspect is that every team member understands their development as a team.
Although every group’s development over time is unique, researchers have identified some stages of group development that many groups seem to pass through. The most famous model is the Four Stages of Team Development, developed by the psychology professor Bruce Tuckman in 1965. Tuckman suggested that all teams go through a relatively unproductive initial stage before becoming a self-reliant unit.
Although there have been other written variations from many authors, Tuckman’s stages of development – Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing – are a helpful technique to recognize the team’s behaviour and feelings during the process. Identifying and understanding why changes occur is a key component of the self-evaluation process. This can help the team maximize its process and its productivity.
Contents |
Introduction to the Model
Forming
Stage 1: Immature group
- Confusion
- Uncertainty
- Assesing situation
- Testing groung rules
- Feeling out others
- Defining goals
- Getting acquainted
- Establishing rules
Storming
Stage 2: Fractional group
- Disagreement over priorities
- Struggle for leadership
- Tension
- Hostility
- Clique formation
Norming
Stage 3: Sharing group
- Consensus
- Leadership accepted
- Trust established
- Standards set
- New stable roles
- Co-operation
Performing
Stage 4: Effective group
- Successful performance
- Flexible, task roles
- Openness
- Helpfulness
- Delusion, disillusion and acceptance
Further Development
Adjourning
Stage 5: Disbanding group
- Disengagement
- Anxiety about separation and ending
- Positive feeling towards leader
- Sadness
- Self-evaluation
